Denethor would have certainly considered 'Thorongil' to be a rival for his father's approval; and once he deduced the young stranger's true identity he would start suspecting Gandalf and the Ranger of plotting against the rule of the Stewards. I'm not sure, though, that Denethor should be corrupt or decadent--arrogant and prideful, yes.

Otaku-sempai wrote:[url=https://twitter.com/theoneringnet/status/996822027343310848]Presumably an official announcement will be forthcoming soon and with more details.

Or maybe not.

Give it a few days.

There's also still a chance that each season might have a different focus. The first season is alleged to be about the early days of Aragorn. However, subsequent seasons might concentrate on other characters and settings such as: Balin's attempt to retake Moria; the last days of King Arvedui; the fall of Angmar; etc.

Not only was there not an "official announcement" within a few days (or a couple of weeks for that matter), there wasn't even so much as a post on TORN's home page. I think this was just speculation from someone on twitter and nothing more. It probably still is the most likely possibility, but I consider it far from confirmed.

Voronwe_the_Faithful wrote:Not only was there not an "official announcement" within a few days (or a couple of weeks for that matter), there wasn't even so much as a post on TORN's home page. I think this was just speculation from someone on twitter and nothing more. It probably still is the most likely possibility, but I consider it far from confirmed.

The Twitter post did cite "multiple sources" so I do believe that this is more than just speculation. Frankly, I will not be at all surprised if the folks at Amazon are waiting for further developments to firm up before issuing an official announcement (though, I might of course be wrong). I advise continued patience until this is confirmed or debunked.

A German-language article at IGN Deutschland seems to confirm Peter Jackson's involvement in Amazon's Middle-earth series. According to a TORN member who has translated the most relevant parts, Jackson will not act as showrunner for the series, but is helping to gather the creative team for the show.

"I had a phone call by Amazon about a year ago. And it sounded like they would do the right thing, they have very good intentions with the series. For me everything was very fascinating and exciting.

But I don't want to be the one who is responsible for the whole show because I have never done a TV series that's that long. It would not be very clever when I would take the job of the showrunner.

What I'm basically doing right now is compiling the creative team (behind the series)."

We have a new article at The Playlist that alleges: Peter Jackson Denies Involvement In ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series Or Any DC Film. So either the news coming out of IGN in Germany is false or this article isn't telling us the whole story. The previous story did state that Jackson was not going the be the showrunner for Amazon's Middle-earth series, so both articles could be true up to a point.

Otaku-sempai wrote:We have a new article at The Playlist that alleges: Peter Jackson Denies Involvement In ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series Or Any DC Film. So either the news coming out of IGN in Germany is false or this article isn't telling us the whole story. The previous story did state that Jackson was not going the be the showrunner for Amazon's Middle-earth series, so both articles could be true up to a point.

Due to the diametrally clashing interviews released yesterday by IGN Deutschland and French Allociné, the German portal Filmstarts.de asked both sites for clarification of their sources. IGN could provide an audio recording of the interview with PJ which confirms their article:- PJ is not involved directly with the Amazon series, and of course not as showrunner. - However, he is "putting the creative team together" for the project.- Also, he confirmed to be ready to participate in the project "in some capacity" and to help Amazon, as he is excited about their project.

The Tolkien deal covers most, but not all of the material connected to the author’s Middle Earth saga. Salke said that it is still too early to say what shape, exactly, the series will take. But, she added, “It’s not a remaking of the movies, and it’s not a whole new thing. It’s something in between. It’s not, ‘Oh, it’s “Lord of the Rings” but you don’t recognize anything in it,’ but it’s not totally familiar to you either. So it’s original.”

Voronwe_the_Faithful wrote:That seems to suggest that I was right and that the reports that the series will begin with "young Aragorn" were premature.

If you mean the passage that I quoted then I wouldn't say that. The story of Aragorn's early journeys would fit that description just fine, neither a remaking of the movies nor a whole new thing, though it could turn out to be something else.

There is that, but that doesn't preclude the possibility that some preliminary decisions have been reached. The rumor from TORN's Twitter page leaves open the possibility that the show could shift gears after the first season and take a new direction. Right now, we just don't have enough facts to say much of anything with confidence. My own speculations and opinions are just that, nothing more.

I wouldn't be surprised if they end up doing the young Aragorn idea, but I very much doubt that they have settled on doing so, or that they will settle on a definite plan until they have a showrunner and writers, and a clearer idea of what the role of the Tolkien Estate and Jackson will be. From what she says, the deal wasn't even finalized until AFTER the TORN twitter report (which again was never confirmed even on the TORN home page).

The twitter post was made on May 16 which means that it could have been after the deal was sealed. But you're right that plans can change and even if there was truth in that report, the series could still end up going in a different direction.

That's not a denial; Ms. Salke just states that she can't discuss it. And that very same exchange suggests that at least some tentative ideas might have been floated ("It'll be characters you love"). All it really tells us is that nothing is finalized yet.

It's not loyalty, V., just optimism. Try it sometime; you might like it! If or when we have solid information that debunks the Aragorn-centric rumor I will set it aside; until then that's still my best guess as to the initial focus of the series.

On the other hand, maybe you are being optimistic. I'm not sure what outcome you're hoping for from the Amazon deal.

I don't have a strong preference for what they do, other than that it be done well and that it manages to reflect the spirit of Tolkien's work. I can't say that I'm particularly optimistic that that will happen, but I think Salke's comments are somewhat encouraging in that they are interested in taking their time and that the Tolkien Estate continues to be actively involved (although Simon Tolkien has at times been at odds with his father about the films).